I hate picking on women. We're born at a disadvantage and in our wild flailing to stay afloat, we make such easy targets. But really, do the wives and girlfriends of the Ottawa Senators have to dress up in matching pink team sweaters and call their ad hoc union "The Better Halves?"

It's bad enough that these women have hooked up with bruised artist-athletes with careers of inevitably brief span, sold by hockey corporations as if they were cans of Spam, shipped around the continent without notice, thus dooming their wives' careers from the start. But must The Better Halves bully young pregnant women during their own brush with greatness? I'd like to ask the nice ladies about this, but these shy creatures are as hard to track down as the tiny, near-extinct, muntjac deer.

The Better Half way

The Better Halves are giving a third of the proceeds of this year's $50,000 Christmas Tree raffle to First Place Pregnancy Centre, an Ottawa anti-abortion group run by Pentecostal Christians.

Planned Parenthood Ottawa is upset, in its customary polite way, and sent out a press release protesting charity money going to a group that is not what people might think it is.

Here's the context: There are thousands of these centres across North America. They're known in the business as CPCs, as they usually have names resembling Crisis Pregnancy Centre. They have cute websites designed to appeal to teenage girls, lots of advice about boys — giggle — and sites on MySpace. They take great care to look like kindly counselling centres. In fact, they exist solely to prevent abortion.

Planned Parenthood told me it frequently talks to women who went to these apparently welcoming places for counselling on the three options — abortion, adoption and parenting. The group says women report feeling badly treated.

Charity's rewards

The problem is worse than just some hockey fans inadvertently donating to a cause they may oppose — that is a personal issue between a fan and her team (in my case, the Canadiens). What irks is that our tax dollars are involved.

The raffle money is channelled through the Sens Foundation, the team's registered charity arm, which is matching every dollar raised by The Better Halves.

Not only does the foundation, which normally does good — make that wonderful — things appear to be breaking Revenue Canada's rules for charities, it is breaking its own rules.

Both the taxman and the foundation agree that donations can only support registered charities. They can't support "political or lobby" or "advocacy or special interest groups." And they shouldn't.

As a pro-choice woman, I write and speak about abortion rights and donate money. But I don't get a tax break and would ridicule the suggestion. Half the joy of activism is its utter lack of reward. The other half is the cold rain leaking down your spine and into your cold, sodden jeans at a demonstration on a wet Wednesday on the Legislature's muddy lawn. There's no life like it.

First Place link lesson

I had an initially cheerful phone interview with Sens Foundation president Dave Ready, who said the Better Halves, when asked to choose three charities, chose:

• First Place.
• Kids Help Phone.
• Harmony House (a women's shelter).

First Place was "in line with our mandate," he said. "We did due diligence and checked that it's a charity."

"You went to the website?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Did you check on the links?"

"No."

We went through the First Place site links together. There's a standard disclaimer but First Place hopes we'll find them "helpful." I told Ready that some of the news headlines appeared to be libellous, particularly the ones linking corporations that make birth control drugs to the Jewish Holocaust and one drug itself to Nazi death camps. Others were grotesque: "One baby in 30 left alive after medical abortion" turns out to be an absurd, unsubstantiated anonymous "news story" in a British entertainment magazine.

You're also guided to a donation page for the American Life League, a hardline group based outside Washington. There's a shop, admittedly very funny, that sells "Abortion is mean" T-shirts for two-year-olds.

They offer booklets explaining that abortion is wrong even in the case of incest. They tell members to scare away raped children outside abortion clinics. They call RU-486 "the anti-human pesticide." They offer sample letters to the editor to send to outlets that employ, I imagine, columnists like me. One begins: "Planned Parenthood is not 'a good guy.'"

Ready gets more and more quiet as we track this. Soon he is desperate to get off the phone. He will not let me talk to a Better Half, who might well explain that she hadn't known that First Place is financed by the Bethel Pentecostal Church in Ottawa and its mission — declared on the Bethel website but nowhere on the First Place site — is not just anti-abortion but anti-birth control.

Who says what

Revenue Canada tells me that First Place is not a registered charity.

Terri Mazik, executive director of First Place, sent out a press release attacking "our colleagues at Planned Parenthood" for their press release. She says First Place makes its position clear by saying it doesn't do "abortion referrals," ignoring the fact that no one does. Referrals aren't necessary; all anyone needs is to be guided to a phone book.

Her website and her press release are full of fact-concealing cotton puffery. But why conceal them? This is Canada. Say what you want, but on your own dime.

I don't know how the Sens Foundation got itself into this mess, which will surely lead to some hard questions from Revenue Canada.

CBC TV is about to show a new soap/drama series similar to Britain's notorious Footballers' Wives, called MVP. It's about the women known as — sorry — "puck bunnies."

Were the Better Halves abortion hardliners or innocent bunnies when they offered their money to this weird organization? Does the Sens Foundation's "due diligence" include Google searches?

This whole matter is a soap opera, and I expect the Foundation and Revenue Canada to call a halt. But, unlike in a soap opera, everyone came out of this with real damage: the Better Halves, the Sens Foundation and its wonderful Roger's House for dying children, the unaware raffle ticket buyers, Kids Help Phone, Harmony House and most of all, the confused, friendless young women who may want to consider the option of abortion but are going to be lied to and maybe bullied out of it.

This Week

I saw Neil Young for the first time, in concert at Toronto's Massey Hall. In an extraordinary display of ethics, an e-mail friend of mine named Andy Strote gave me at cost a ticket he'd found. I sat among fans who had paid thousands per seat. Neil Young fans are like their idol; they're rock 'n' roll purists.

Young hadn't played Massey Hall for 36 years and the concert was inspired. Two years after the aneurysm that nearly finished him off, this stylish slob, this beautiful mess of a guy, sang in that thin voice that we know by heart and yes, it was far, far beyond beauteous and good.

Editor's note:
Ms. Mallick clearly states that Revenue Canada told her First Place is not a registered charity. Links on the website's donation section show that it operates under a different name as a registered charity: Crisis Pregnancy Centre of Ottawa, registered as number 890251382RR0001.

First Place Pregnancy Centre Media Statement

December 6, 2007 (Ottawa) - Today Terri Mazik, Executive Director of First Place Pregnancy Centre, issued the following statement:

"First Place recognizes the incredible work and generosity of The Better Halves and The Sens Foundation. However, we do not wish to interfere in even the most indirect way with the Foundation’s positive image and valuable contribution to our community. We also want to extend our support for the other worthy charities Therefore, it is with the best interest of The Foundation in mind that First Place Pregnancy Centre voluntarily withdraws from participating in the Christmas Tree Raffle.

First Place is a successful organization that has been the recipient of tremendous support from the community at large since 1992. We will continue to rely on the generosity of our donors in order that we may focus on the work that is so important to us-serving women, men, and families facing unplanned pregnancies.

We trust the Christmas Tree Raffle will be a tremendous success and we offer our congratulations to the recipient charities. What a beautiful and well deserved Christmas gift!"

---

Letters

I am disappointed in the CBC. I thought you were a reputable organization that strived to present a balanced prospective. Heather Mallick has done herself a disservice. The "disadvantaged" group she puts herself and others in has made many strides over the decades.

Choices....we have many. The wives and girlfriends of those bruised artist-athletes made a choice and decided all on their own to wed and align themselves with those hockey heros. In Heathers first paragraph alone, she belittles and bullies these intelligent women with her words. Those Better Halves also made a choice to put themselves out there for their communities, also aligning themselves with organizations that, like themselves, strive to do better for the community.

Did Heather do her homework and find out just who works and volunteers at First Place? I think if she had she would find out that rather than an "anti-abortion group run by Pentecostal Christians" she would have found out that there are many denominations and "main line" people involved in this very worthy organization.

People like herself that would stand behind an organization that reaches out to a multitude of men and women every year with mentor support, a clothes cupboard, baby items, literature, counselling and countless other areas of need. While I respect Heather's right to speak, did SHE check out her sources when pointing out to the President of the Sens Foundation that First Place is INDEED a registered charity, that it is NOT run by an anti-abortion group, did she interview one or many of the women this organization has helped over the years?

No, rather she presented her viewpoint and obvious opinion of how she feels about women and abortion. Heather you are right, First Place does not provide abortions....they do so much more. Oh and by the way Heather, no where on any site did I find any information regarding your declaration that Bethel Pentecostal Church in Ottawa is anti-birth control....just where did you get all your information?

– Heather Thompson | Ottawa

Even though Heather Mallick's column is wonderfully written and I agree with its sentiment, she seems to forget that the CBC and ergo her salary are paid for by tax dollars.

So, don't play the public money card when it comes to opinion. Forget about who pays for what, say what you mean and mean what you say.

Hockey wives have never been mistaken for rocket scientists and most of them were probably too busy getting their makeup right in order to do any due dilligence.

– B. Fraser Clark | Palm Springs, CA

Every time one thinks that Heather Mallick can't sink to a new low with her drivel, she surprises anyone familiar with her column with something even more contemptible. This week it is a screed about a perfectly legitimate choice made by the wives and girlfriends of the Ottawa Senators, women she sneeringly derides as puck bunnies.

Since their choice of charities to support (specifically, First Place Pregnancy Centre) didn't meet her own extreme views on the subject of abortion, she launches into a bizarre witch hunt against The Better Halves, the Sens Foundation, its president Dave Ready, First Place, and Bethel Pentecostal Church, with (as usual) drive-by scorn for anyone who disagrees with her views.

It all culminates with her smug assurance to readers that Revenue Canada will no doubt be investigating the situation, as if something illegal had taken place. How ironic (and delightful) it then is to realize that Mallick has been hoist with her own petard - it turns out that the only one who didn't do enough research into the situation was Mallick herself.

It is doubtful that she has enough humility or self-awareness to apologize for her mistake, but hopefully the incident will give her pause for thought. If this is a soap opera, it is one of her own making, and she is the one that caused any real damage.

Instead of worrying about speculative hectoring of hypothetical pregnant women on the part of First Place, maybe Mallick should check her facts first and lay off the bullying tactics herself.

– Martin Ebel | Lethbridge, Alberta

Once again, an excellent column from Ms Malick, one of the best writers in the business. As one can see from the numbers of letters in response, abortion continues to be one of the "hot button" issues of our time.

A woman's right to choose is essential and exposing agendas that exist to interfere with that rights in very important. It would be easy for women of this generation to forget how hard fought their right to choose has been.

– Alvin Rebick | Guelph, Ont

I enjoyed the article Ms Mallick wrote regarding being aware of what you are actually donating to, it was the comments that shocked me. Though most of them are quite well written and present their opinions well, there was one I simply could not ignore. Micheal, I believe his name was, claims that the last time he checked men and women were equal and that was the end to that.

My friend, under what rock have you been hiding? A woman working at the same job with the same qualifications as a man currently makes around 78 cents for every dollar he earns. A resume sent to organizations completely unchanged except for the name (from Jane to John) received three times the number of responses from the same companies while it used the male name.

I am pro-choice, though I personally believe I would never be able to have an abortion myself. I have never been to a pregnancy help centre, since I have never been pregnant, but I seriously doubt that any group would present abortion as a miraculous fix-all to women.

My boyfriend's mother was forced to have an abortion, (China's one child policy) and I know that it has deeply affected her, even though she had no other options. Imagine the trauma a woman faces knowing that she did have options and wondering what her life would be like now had she not given up a piece of herself?

I hope people understand now that just because women can have an abortion doesn't mean they will, or that they will make that decision on a whim just because a pregnancy centre told them it was an option.

In fact, I do believe planned parenthood focusses mostly on prevention (condoms, the pill) as well as safe sex, due to presentations we had at my school that were both informative and fun.

– Alisenne | Ottawa

Good for the so-called "Better Halves". I fail to understand how Mallick, just another bleeding-heart-anything-goes Liberal, is utterly outraged by a group of women donating their money where they please.

Furthermore, most of the organizations that are pro-abortion don't go around, either on the web or any other media, clearly identifying themselves as such.

It's a sad state of affairs when a society leans more towards killing a fetus and finds it acceptable, with all the medical risks involved for the pregnant mother, as opposed to promoting life. Mallick is a sorry cheerleader of such a society.

– Nicolas | N.B.

My company has been hired on a number of ocassions to serve the promotional needs of Pregnancy Support Centres in various places. I can tell you from first hand experience that they serve the women they offer services to very well. They share with them in a compassionate way and offer them options, clothing, food, even places to stay.

The artical Ms. Mallick wrote was so clearly biased against these centres. I can't imagine people taking her article seriously and I'm dissapointed that the CBC, a news organization that prides itself on unbiased news would print such a venimous and biased opinion piece.

Sure someone like Ms. Mallick is very pro-abortion, but her assult on the First Choice Centre in Ottawa is ignorant. I think that if she really had any care fir these women that find themselves in unplanned pregnancies and actually spoke with some of the woman that have been helped by this centre or another like it, she would not be so quick to attack them. Shame on her for her biased bitter words.

I applaud the Better Halves for their support of this good work. I hope they won't cave to this neo-feminist's assult.

– Philip Blai | Sarnia, Ontario

I applaud Ms Mallick for finding out exactly what the Sens Foundation and those unfortunate "puck bunnies" are supporting. I have seen much feedback about the "ugly horror" of abortions; all I can say is that if people choose to believe the videos that these ideological organizations show, well, that speaks only to their immense naivete.

As for those who call themselves feminists but who are pro-life, I suggest that it is not possible to be both. A feminist, by definition, is one who believes in the equality between men and women. A woman who does not have control over her body, cannot be equal to a man who has control over his. Having the choice to make whatever decision, however difficult, regarding one's own health, is an essential component to attaining equality between men and women.

Now, one may be a feminist, be pro-choice, but not want to have an abortion themselves. I truly feel that most pro-choice people are not pro-abortion; they merely feel that women should have that option, should it be desirable.

Obviously, the more educated we are about sexuality and reproduction, and the more accessible contraceptives are, the less a need for abortion exists. While I cannot speak for Planned Parenthood, (1) that organization definitely presents all options open to an expectant mother, and (2) I am confident that that organization envisages a world where abortions are extremely rare (but legally provided, economically accessible, and safe), and contraceptives and sex education are widely available and encouraged.

– Jennifer Purdy | Ottawa

Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are well-known in the US: they mislead women and do not provide accurate or complete information about pregnancy choices. Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice organizations, in contrast, DO provide information about all pregnancy options, and women are given a real choice based on their circumstances and their free will.

Here's one woman's experience with a CPC. (http://www.geocities.com/realitywithbite/chooselies.htm)

I also recommend the documentary by Sunny Chapman, called "Misguidance" (http://www.sunnychapman.com/media/misguidancep1.html)

Another recent article by the Palm Beach Post describes CPCs. (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/local_news/epaper/2007/03/11/m1a_CLINICS_0311.html)

Furthermore, many CPCs do not help women who are NOT considering abortion and simply want financial or material assistance with their pregnancies. Or they will help women only until the baby is born - or sometimes, only until it is too late to get an abortion (there is no formal law restricting abortion in Canada, but due to the self-regulation of the medical profession, you absolutely cannot get a third-trimester abortion unless there is a serious fetal anomaly or life-threatening physical risk).

I'm glad that Ms. Mallick has brought this issue to the light. CPCs have no business being tax-exempt.

– Catherine Megill | Montreal

Ms. Malick makes several silly statements, beginning in the first sentence, but what stands out is her assertion that the charity in question exists only to "prevent abortions."

Umm...in a perfect world, wouldn't abortions simply not exist? I don't believe anyone in the history of the universe set out to get pregenant only so they could choose to terminate the pregnancy. Is she suggesting that women get pregnant as a means of aborting their unborn children merely to make political statements?

I can think of a half dozen ways in which Ms. Malick's comments set back the cause of women's equality, beginning with her assertion that women are not equal right in the first sentence. It's all a matter of perception, and last time I checked, women were in fact equal to men. A pity she feels so insecure.

– Michael Dorosh | Calgary

Being Pro-Choice means knowing all the options that are available so that an appropriate choice can be made.

Unfortunately, many of these phony pregnancy clinics have as their main objective the obscuring of the choice to have an abortion which is a legal medical service in Canada. Thank you Heather Mallick for explaining this so well.

– Anne Burnett | Ottawa

Ms. Mallick has every right to be enraged. I steeled myself to also look through the links from the First Place website, and as a woman, I was appalled. Clearly, this is an organizaiton with close affiliaions to religious organizations who are using pure gore and half-truths about abortion to scare young women away from what is their legislative-given right.

One of the passages is about how an abortion is performed: it made me wince with the kind of vigour usually reserved for stories of kitten abuse. However, I also know the information provided is absolutely false, designed to frighten young women who may yet to have their first pap smear.

Having lived in Ottawa when the Senators were just coming to the city, I have always had a soft spot for them. No more! If their 'charitable arm' considers this a worthwhile cause, they need to loosen their jock straps. Perhaps donating an equal amount to organizations who really do provide women with choices would help put things back into balance.

I applaud Ms. Mallick for bringing this story to light, and being brave enough to withstand the righteous indignation she surely saw coming her way.

– Vicki Robertson | Halifax

Another great column by Heather Mallick (I still miss her every Saturday in The Globe and Mail). Her thinking is clear, her writing is stellar and her politics are sound.

Thank goodness someone is still out there in the public realm writing about abortion rights - while we've long won the legal battle, we have a way to go yet before we can claim victory on genuine understanding and access.

– Amanda Lerougetel | Winnipeg

The problem with the "Better Halves" raising funds for the First Place Pregnancy Centre is not because this centre is anti-abortion per se, or even because it is religiously-oriented, but 1) because they are not clearly upfront about those aspects, which misleads women thinking they have found unbiased, secular help, and 2) because they spread inaccurate and/or scare-mongering information about abortion, STI's, contraception, and sex. I believe those tactics are irresponsible and unprofessional, and it's something the public and potential donors should be aware of.

– Joyce Arthur | Vancouver

Despite some of the arguments offered by others who have provided feedback, I enjoyed Ms. Mallick's article - those who disagree with her viewpoint are surely forgetting that the words pro-choice do not mean pro-abortion, but only the right of a woman to choose.

Whether the Ottawa Senators organization is for or against CPCs is in some ways immaterial, but they must at least put themselves in a position where they are not seen to be advocating the narrowing of choice. Somebody at the front office please take note and offer some guidance so that the dollars raised by the Better Halves goes to a worthwhile and deserving cause.

– Gregor GÙilbert | Montreal

Ms. Mallick's article I find is very biased. She says that Crisis Pregnancy Center's aren't what they seem to be, but neither in my opinion is Planned Parenthood. It is not so much about planning anything.

I normally like Ms Mallick's articles. This one of the reasons why I am reluctant to call myself a feminist. She seems to assume all feminists are pro-choice. This is not the case.

– . Nixon | New Brunswick

I'm sorry that this author feels so disadvantaged and such hatred for the children of this world who are "destroying women".

I wonder how many young women go into Planned Parenthood Centres and are deceived into believing that they can have control over their reproduction. Perhaps they can decide not to have children, but ho

w many women are told that sometimes, this surprise pregnancy may be a "now or never" situation.

I know of many women who live with guilt that they aborted their only children, as they struggle with infertility in their late thirties. (Which is the time of our lives when many femininsts feel we are at a more appropriate age to parent)

Unfortunately, there is NO easy way out when dealing with an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy. Whatever decision women make, they will have to live with it forever, and I am so sad that so many Planned Parenthood supporters deceptively try to make us think that abortion erases a pregnancy.

Kudos to any group that offers a different point of view, so women can go to both centres, and maybe get ALL the facts.

– Anne Antoniuk | Moose Jaw, SK

Thank you Heather. We need to know where our money goes. We give far to often in blind trust. As a parent of four adopted children I still feel that women need to have informed information when they make their decisions . Keep up the good work.

– V Hilton | Winnipeg

Thank you, Ms Mallick, for bringing this inattentive allocation of charity funds to light. As a taxpayer who supports a woman's right to choose (along with the majority of Canadians), I am relieved to know that such negligence has not gone unobserved or unchecked.

I am sure that the Sens and their ‘Better Halves’ are also grateful to you for discovering this remissness and for exercising 'due diligence' on their behalf.

– Julianne Smith | Vancouver

Thank You Heather for this excellent and informative article. It speaks volumes that these CPC's conceal their real message of anti-choice. I encourage the Better Halves and the Senators Foundation to rethink their donation and give all to the Kids Help Phone and Harmony House.

– JD Jamieson | Nova Scotia

Heather delights in grilling the Sens Foundation president, Dave Ready, in regards to his fact checking concerning charitable donations.

Ms. Mallick states that "Revenue Canada tells me that Fisrt Place is not a registered charity" Perhaps Ms. Mallick should check her own facts, as apparently the CBC doesn't use a fact-checker for it's articles.

When you click on the "make a donation link" on First Place Pregnacy's web page, you are able to get to an information page concerning the organisation's status as a charity.On this page a registered charity number is provided, which I then verified using the Canada Revenue Agency's website(cra-arc.gc.ca)-click on the left "Charities and Giving".

First Place Pregnancy Center is indeed a registered charity, registered as " Crisis Pregnancy Center of Ottawa".

It would appear that the Sens foundation and the "Better Halves" have done nothing wrong, and Heather Mallick has been wasting her time.

Perhaps Mallick should include some "due diligence" in her research.

– Shawn | Saint John

Thank you Ms. Mallick for writing such an informative article. Just this Sat. I was at the hockey game where I saw the "Better Halves" selling raffle tickets. My immediate thoughts were similar to yours but ultimately I assumed they were collecting money for a good cause, and that in itself should be commended. Unfortunately I, like most people, did not inquire too deeply into where the donations were headed.

Years ago I wondered into one of these CPC's, luckily with my boyfriend, now husband, to seek some guidance regarding an unplanned pregnancy. I left an hour later, in tears, feeling betrayed, bullied and even more desperate then when I started. I was shown graphic photos and told half truths regarding my condition.

Thank you Ms. Mallick for pointing out the truth behind the Better Halves charity selection. Whether this choice was intentional or not, people need to know the whole truth about organizations and I am happy that you are helping people to make more informed choices.

– anonymous | Ottawa

Thank you Ms. Mallick for digging into this story. If the Bethel Center or the First Place have nothing to hide then why doesn't the link appear between both, appear somewhere on the First Place website.

We give the Religions Tax-Free status to start with and then they dupe foundations with a smokescreen of half Truths.

The Bethel website Claims that "There are no laws in Canada governing abortion, and therefore a baby may be aborted throughout the nine months of prenatal development" Religious groups have an impunity in this country that they don't deserve and for too long the federal government has supported (enabled) the awful track record of these groups.

– John Little | Nanaimo BC

I think Ms. Mallick's article is an excellent piece of journalism. She exposes her own bias right from the start then proceeds to detail the investigation she made.

The point being made here is simple even if overlooked by some readers; Check to make sure your charitable donations are in line with your own philosophies. Plain and simple.

The Sens Foundation did not do a thorough investigation, something that has obviously embarassed them. They are not trying to make any kind of a political statement but rather they are trying to do good work by donating to properly registered charities that have no political agenda.

That is the point of the story. Why do so many people miss the big picture when reading?

The question now is what will be the public reaction of the Foundation?

– Harold Hotham | London, ON

I don't like abortion, not one bit. However Heather Mallick's article hit on one important point, that it is not tax payers responsibility to fund ideologies, which is exactly what the clinic is in this argument.

I choose not to mock Heather for any hidden agendas that others may want to read in to her column, she's not angry but refuses to submit to inappropriate tax benefits and to the hypocrisy of those involved, who most likely would make a bigger fuss if given to some agency on the other side of the political aisle.

I don't like abortion or antiabortion places, and I also don't like ignorant wives who may be misusing my money that I donated to them under the pretenses that it would go to a non political organization.

I figure any woman faced with this difficult choice is having a hard enough time, she doesn't need people with a political agenda trying to make up her mind, she just needs help and as sappy as it may seem, some love.

– Adam Barnes | CNL

Thank you Ms Mallick. I hope the Sens Fdn and the wives group will drop this group from their funding. I appreciate Ms Mallick providing this information for women, hockey fans and prospective funders.

If the group does continue to support this organization, I hope they will be upfront so the public can decide if they wish to support the initiative this year or fund Planned Parenthood as an alternative.

– Jennifer Pollock | Calgary

As long as the Better Halves made clear where the money was going, there should be no issue about their right to donate and fund raise for whatever issue they wish. Abortion is not the only choice and, as an adopted child myself, I would hope it was not the only option presented by groups that are militant about it's place in our society.

Ms. Mallick's article, while informational, and certainly acceptable in a society that values free speech, seems to contain that hint of hysteria that pervades both sides of the abortion argument and therefore, it loses some of it's potency for me.

– N Gazzola | Waterloo, Ontario

I happy to hear that the Senator's Wives and girlfriends made a donation to First Place Pregnancy Centre. As the central arguement is for abortion life's of innocent babies cannot be taken merly because of a personnal choice. Human beings are not the ones to decide which human beings are to live or die.

I am not that convinced that the people who donated the money to the Senators Foundation are unhappy about the organisme that received a part of the money. Just take a look at how many people attend the yearly March for life in Ottawa.

Thank you for also considering the other part of the arguement!

– Etienne De Champlain | Ottawa

Ms. Mallick is clearly a good writer, but any critical reader can see just as clearly that Ms. Mallick is also a seething feminist ideologue who loathes those, including the wives and girlfriends of the Ottawa Senators, who do not share her worldview.

As regards her particular portrayal of the First Place Pregnancy Centre and other similar CPC organisations, one has to wonder how credible that portrayal is? Are these organisations filled with radical fundamentalists that exist only to bully young women faced with unplanned pregnancies into not having that abortion they so desperately want?

Or are these organisations staffed by committed and compassionate individuals who care for the women that find themselves in the difficult circumstance of an unplanned pregnancy and for the fetus that is growing in their womb? One would hope/assume that it would be the latter, as it is my understanding that Christ taught that all of his followers that their actions should be motivated by love for their neighbour.

So the staff of these Crisis Pregnancy Centres believe that a fetus is a child, and should accordingly be protected, cared for, and even loved before it is born? Is this a bad message to share with a young woman that is looking for real assistance in a difficult situation?

It certainly is my hope that the "Better Halves" and the larger Sens organisation has the wisdom to ignore the venom and vitriol of Ms. Mallick and her ilk.

– Edward Ludwig | Gatineau,QC

I found Heather Mallick's article "Hockey wives and abortion" to be a poor piece of journalism.She relied on the hearsay of Planned Parenthood to tell of women's reactions to First Place. Hearsay is not a good source.

Over the years, as a supporter of Crisis Pregnancy Centres, I have noticed a succession of journalists who are abortion advocates write stories about CPCs, which take the same flavour, always accusing CPCs of being somewhat deceptive, not what people think they are. By and large, while there are some mavericks out there, CPCs do exactly what they claim to do: they offer information and support to pregnant women. What seems to tick off these abortion advocates is that CPCs refuse to ignore the negative aspects of abortion and choose to give a full, accurate picture so that women can make informed choices.

Hard to understand why this angers Mallick so. I guess when what is true disagrees with your personal ideology you have stick to what is false.

– Judi Daly | Winnipeg

Please thank Ms. Mallick for an excellent article. As a member of the on-line Neil Young fan community, I also really appreciated her ending comments and thanks to one of our own, Andy Strote.

– Peter Simons | Stettler, AB